Solitary pulmonary mass in a patient with a history of lymphoma: a case report

INTRODUCTION: With the progress made in treatments, the survival rate for patients with malignant lymphoma in the last 30 years has significantly improved. However, the risk of experiencing a second primary malignancy or other disease has increased significantly. CASE PRESENTATION: A 44-year-old Mongolian man with a large mass in his right lower abdomen was admitted to our hospital 15 years previously. The mass was removed, and confirmed via pathological examination to be a malignant B-cell lymphoma in the appendix and distal small bowel. Post-operative chemotherapy with standard cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunomycin, vincristine (Oncovin®) and prednisolone regimen was given for six cycles. No obvious recurrence was detected over the following 12 years. Subsequently, a mass in the right lung was found on a regular X-ray follow-up; our patient did not report chills, fever or cough. Chest computed tomography and positron emission tomography scans confirmed the mass. A primary lung carcinoma was considered to be the most likely diagnosis. However, after an exploratory thoracotomy and right upper lobectomy was performed a pathological examination of tissue samples demonstrated a lung cryptococcal granuloma, with positive staining for periodic acid Schiff and periodic acid-silver metheramine. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to the normal population, second primary malignancy (in particular leukaemia and lung cancer) in patients with malignant lymphoma during their long-term survival has been seen occasionally. However, other diagnoses should also be considered such as pulmonary cryptococcosis. Other than computed-tomography-guided needle biopsy, surgery for some patients is a much more appropriate choice, which could also help attain correct diagnosis and treatment

Preparation and Enhancement of Thermal Conductivity of Heat Transfer Oil-Based MoS 2

The lipophilic MoS2 nanoparticles are synthesized by surface modification with stearic acid (SA). The heat transfer oil-based nanofluids, with the mass fraction of lipophilic nanoparticles varying from 0.25% up to 1.0%, are prepared and their thermal conductivity is determined at temperatures ranging from 40 to 200°C using an apparatus based on the laser flash method. It has been found that the nanofluids have higher thermal conductivity and the thermal conductivity enhancement increased not only with increasing mass fraction of nanoparticles, but also with increasing temperature in the range 40–180°C The results show a 38.7% enhancement of the thermal conductivity of MoS2 nanofluid with only 1.0% mass fraction at 180°C

Research on work zone vehicle queuing behavior based on cellular automata

A model is proposed to estimate the work zone queue length, and the cellular automata based on empirical data is used for model validation. This estimation model can be applied to work zone organization and management to improve work zone capacity and security. Relationship between the average queue length and the warning zone length can be found, and the appropriate warning zone length can be determined according to design flow. Moreover, the appropriate work zone lane-changing strategies under different design flows are found through the estimation model

Short-term effects of high-resolution (1-km) ambient PM2.5 and PM10 on hospital admission for pulmonary tuberculosis: a case-crossover study in Hainan, China

IntroductionThere is limited evidence regarding particulate matter (PM)’s short-term effects on pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) hospital admission. Our study aimed to determine the short-term associations of the exposure to ambient PM with aerodynamic diameters <2.5 μm (PM2.5) and < 10 μm (PM10) with hospital admission for PTB in Hainan, a tropical province in China.MethodsWe collected individual data on patients hospitalized with PTB, PM2.5, PM10, and meteorological data from 2016 to 2019 in Hainan Province, China. Conditional logistic regression models with a time-stratified case-crossover design were used to assess the short-term effects of PM2.5 and PM10 on hospital admission for PTB at a spatial resolution of 1 km  ×  1 km. Stratified analyses were performed according to age at admission, sex, marital status, administrative division, and season of admission.ResultsEach interquartile range (IQR) increases in the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were associated with 1.155 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.041–1.282) and 1.142 (95% CI: 1.033–1.263) hospital admission risks for PTB at lag 0–8 days, respectively. The stratified analyses showed that the effects of PM2.5 and PM10 were statistically significant for patients aged ≥65 years, males, married, and those residing in prefecture-level cities. Regarding seasonal differences, the associations between PM and hospital admission for PTB were statistically significant in the warm season but not in the cold season. The effect of PM2.5 was consistently stronger than that of PM10 in most subgroups.ConclusionShort-term exposure to PM increases the risk of hospital admission for PTB. The potential impact of PM with smaller aerodynamic diameter is more detrimental. Our findings highlight the importance of reducing ambient PM level to alleviate the burden of PTB